Wednesday, 09 November 2011

Slice of Wednesday: Apple Slice

I love apple slice. I judge a bakery on it's apple slice (after it passes the Vanilla Slice test, but that's another Wednesday.)

And you know what? I've never made it. Not once. I love Slice of Wednesday. It's a whole new world of baking action.

I have eaten quite a lot of apple slice over the years though, and it's very straightforward, right? A crisp shortbready biscuit top and bottom and apple in between. Perfect in its simplicity.

I checked the Mayflower cookbook, and there was an apple slice but there seemed to be a lot of sugar in it. It's not supposed to be super sweet, this one. You want to appreciate that apple.

I also happened to have a big pile of apples that were past their prime (due to Henry having a wobbly front tooth which apparently precludes him from eating more than one apple a day - we formerly had a cap on his number of apples per day at five.)

I also had Tilly up from 4.30am today with the (brief) chucking bug which hit Ivy on Monday. And then Henry up at 6am with the same thing. Hello, laundry.

And so you see, I needed to make apple slice today.

And here it is.

Glorious. (If I may say so.) I have a ridiculous euphoria looking at this slice. NAILED IT.

Of course the converse happens all the time. Nothing wrecks my day like a baking failure. If you hear me snap at my children, look no further than the flat inedible sourdough poking out of the chook bucket. Oh yes, sourdough and I. A battle of wills.

But not today. Today was a high five the oven day. With a piece of apple slice in the fridge to celebrate.

APPLE SLICE

Ingredients:

2 cups plain/all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ cup sugar

125g butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

2 cups (approx) stewed apple (just apple, no sugar), cooled.

Method:You can make this in a food processor if you have one: just whizz all ingredients together, give a bit of a knead then pop it into fridge for 5 mins, wrapped in cling wrap.

Or, sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, stir through the sugar, then mix in the butter with a fork until it looks breadcrumby. Add the egg. Knead well, until smooth then pop it into fridge for 5 mins, wrapped in cling wrap.

Break the dough in half and roll out the bottom slab as close to the size of your tin as you can. (I used a classic Australian slice tin - I think it's 27cm x 13cm). Your tin needs to be greased, floured and lined with baking paper - then press the dough into the bottom. Trim if needed.

Spread approx 2 cups of apple over. Then roll out the top and place it over the apple.

Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes on 180°C. Leave it in the tin until it's cold, then carefully lift out and slice up.

Comments

I love apple slice. I judge a bakery on it's apple slice (after it passes the Vanilla Slice test, but that's another Wednesday.)

And you know what? I've never made it. Not once. I love Slice of Wednesday. It's a whole new world of baking action.

I have eaten quite a lot of apple slice over the years though, and it's very straightforward, right? A crisp shortbready biscuit top and bottom and apple in between. Perfect in its simplicity.

I checked the Mayflower cookbook, and there was an apple slice but there seemed to be a lot of sugar in it. It's not supposed to be super sweet, this one. You want to appreciate that apple.

I also happened to have a big pile of apples that were past their prime (due to Henry having a wobbly front tooth which apparently precludes him from eating more than one apple a day - we formerly had a cap on his number of apples per day at five.)

I also had Tilly up from 4.30am today with the (brief) chucking bug which hit Ivy on Monday. And then Henry up at 6am with the same thing. Hello, laundry.

And so you see, I needed to make apple slice today.

And here it is.

Glorious. (If I may say so.) I have a ridiculous euphoria looking at this slice. NAILED IT.

Of course the converse happens all the time. Nothing wrecks my day like a baking failure. If you hear me snap at my children, look no further than the flat inedible sourdough poking out of the chook bucket. Oh yes, sourdough and I. A battle of wills.

But not today. Today was a high five the oven day. With a piece of apple slice in the fridge to celebrate.

APPLE SLICE

Ingredients:

2 cups plain/all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ cup sugar

125g butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

2 cups (approx) stewed apple (just apple, no sugar), cooled.

Method:You can make this in a food processor if you have one: just whizz all ingredients together, give a bit of a knead then pop it into fridge for 5 mins, wrapped in cling wrap.

Or, sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, stir through the sugar, then mix in the butter with a fork until it looks breadcrumby. Add the egg. Knead well, until smooth then pop it into fridge for 5 mins, wrapped in cling wrap.

Break the dough in half and roll out the bottom slab as close to the size of your tin as you can. (I used a classic Australian slice tin - I think it's 27cm x 13cm). Your tin needs to be greased, floured and lined with baking paper - then press the dough into the bottom. Trim if needed.

Spread approx 2 cups of apple over. Then roll out the top and place it over the apple.

Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes on 180°C. Leave it in the tin until it's cold, then carefully lift out and slice up.